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A recently published academic paper by Italian researchers examined options for safely managing asbestos-containing waste with a focus on a new technology which “reduces the treatment time (and costs) and yields a reusable, asbestos-neutral building material.” Having considered various aspects of an innovative process for the thermal inertization of asbestos waste – as an alternative to landfill disposal – the authors of the paper recommended that further study be undertaken to assess “hidden environmental costs and risks.” See: Economic valuation of the thermal inertization of asbestos waste—an Italian case study.

Texts published last week in the French daily newspaper L'Humanité (Humanity), which were sadly behind a pay wall, documented the human consequences of historic asbestos use on land and at sea. The article cited below featured input from Dr Alain Carré, an occupational physician in the electricity and gas industries for more than three decades, whilst the other one (Jusqu'à 200 000 marins exposés à l'amiante: le drame silencieux des personnels de la Marine nationale [Up to 200,000 naval personnel exposed to asbestos: the silent drama of the French Navy) documented the effects of toxic exposures on naval personnel. See: Amiante: «On n’imagine pas le nombre de personnes qui ont été exposées» [Asbestos: “We can’t imagine the number of people who have been exposed”].

Dozens of asbestos-injured claimants are suing one of the UK’s biggest asbestos groups – Cape PLC – and its global affiliates including Anglo American, De Beer Group PLC and others for the harm caused by their export of asbestos to US states such as South Carolina. According to the lawsuit, Cape executives colluded to hide the risks posed by the use of asbestos from its employees and others and “to avoid financial responsibility for the harm it knew it was causing” in US states. See: 159 Plaintiffs Sue Cape Asbestos Over Decades of Negligence and Fraud Stemming from Asbestos Exposure.

It was announced last week that a 73-year old man from Uji City, who was diagnosed with mesothelioma in 2023, had reached a settlement with the Japanese Government four months after a lawsuit was begun; the settlement was approved by the Kyoto District Court. The claimant had been occupationally exposed to asbestos between 1969 and 1979 at a textile factory. He received the full amount of compensation he sought which was 12.65 million yen (US$82,000). See: アスベスト訴訟 元作業員の男性が国と早期和解 京都地裁 [Asbestos Lawsuit: Former Worker Reaches Early Settlement with Government Kyoto District Court].

Scientists from the National Asbestos Observatory are undertaking research to quantify whether or not there are asbestos fibers in mining wells in Thetford Mines and Val-des-Sources, cities where asbestos mines were operational throughout most of the 20th century. The purpose of this study was “to provide data to promote responsible management of the site.” Proposals have been made to use the wells as sources of drinking water; “there are currently no standards regarding asbestos in drinking water in Quebec.” See: Amiante: l’eau et les enfants sous la loupe des chercheurs à Val-des-Sources [Asbestos: water and children under the microscope of researchers in Val-des-Sources].

An online conference on “Asbestos at Work Directive’: Challenges and Opportunities,” is being held on November 28, 2024 by the European Commission. Speakers during the 4-hour afternoon session will consider the use of measures by Member States to facilitate “the effective implementation of the recently revised Asbestos at Work Directive.” Compliance with this Directive is essential to reduce the EU’s incidence of asbestos-related disease and death; “currently 4.1 to 7.3 million workers in the EU are exposed to asbestos… In 2019, occupational exposure to asbestos claimed over 70,000 lives in the EU.” See: European Commission to hold online asbestos conference.

A public scandal has erupted after it was revealed that six million tonnes of asbestos-containing material excavated from the seabed off the coast of Turkey’s Mersin Port was dumped back into the sea even though an asbestos alert had been contained in the environmental impact assessment provided to representatives of the development company. Highlighting the occupational, environmental and public health risk posed by the dregding of this polluted site, the Mersin Governor's Office and Mersin Metropolitan Municipality were urged to abandon the project. See: Mersin limanında denize 6 milyon ton zehir döktüler [6 million tons of poison dumped into the sea in the port of Mersin].

A report on Swedish Radio News on November 14, 2024 exposed the hazards created by small and large building companies which are failing to comply with health and safety regulations during asbestos removal operations and demolition work at buildings containing asbestos. Although Sweden banned asbestos in 1982, workers and members of the public are still at risk from toxic exposures. In 2023, inspectors at the Swedish Work Environment Authority reported 200 instances of noncompliance with asbestos removal regulations. See: Hundreds of safety violations when removing asbestos.

An analysis of disease data from a large UK cohort of licensed asbestos removal workers reported higher than expected mortality from the asbestos cancer, mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases, such as lung cancer. The researchers found “high smoking rates among asbestos workers and reported a greater than additive interaction between smoking and asbestos on lung cancer mortality… Smoking rates remain high (40%), nearly 10% of workers reported dry stripping asbestos, and fewer than 10 (<0.5%) reported having been diagnosed with an asbestos-related disease.” See: Fifty years of the Great Britain Asbestos Workers’ Survey (AWS): past, present and future.

On October 21, 2024, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) uploaded “Advance Data Release of the 2023 Annual Tables (2023 tables-only release)” which contained updated asbestos production and consumption figures. Whilst total production worldwide was down to 1,240,000 tonnes (t), Russia and Kazakhstan retained their positions as top producers with outputs of 600,000t and 255,200t, respectively. India, China and Uzbekistan were the top three consuming countries using 482,000t, 284,000t and 125,000t, respectively. See: Asbestos Statistics and Information.

In a thought-provoking article by Cristina Billion, the relatives of Italian asbestos victims detailed personal tragedies they experienced as a result of toxic asbestos exposures at work, at home or in the environment. Salvatore Cimmino spoke of the death of his wife Anna Marie from the asbestos cancer mesothelioma; she had worked at a power station. Anna Maria Guzzi described the loss of her husband Fabio Guarnase (48) whose environmental and occupational exposure took place in their home town, Broni. Despite the countless asbestos deaths, few legal cases against owners, managers or employers have succeeded. See: We, Condemned by Asbestos.

VASKI – the utility in charge of the water and sewage systems in the Turkish district of Erciş, Van Province in the east of the country – has started to detoxify the drinking water system by replacing asbestos-containing pipes in the city center. According to the municipal authorities, to date 1,000+ asbestos pipes have been replaced to “ensure that citizens have access to healthy water.” During a recent photo opportunity, Van Municipality Co-Mayors Neslihan Şedal and Abdullah Zeydan examined the pipe renewal work and were briefed on the project by Department Head Bayram Kızıltaş and construction site foremen. See: VASKI renews Erciş's drinking water infrastructure.

In the article cited below, the author and trade unionist Hank Roberts discussed recent research findings to substantiate the dangerous consequences of the Health and Safety Executive’s “wait and see” asbestos policy, calling for an immediate rethink by the Labour Government. Referencing articles by Steve Boggan in the Daily Mail as well as data from the report: What Is The Real Risk Of Asbestos In Schools, Roberts urged grassroots groups to “fight together in unity to ensure that we can finally get rid of the dreadful scourge killing our teachers, support staff and pupils in education.” See: Asbestos deaths in schools will grow.

The Italian shipyard company Fincantieri was ordered to pay compensation of €1,150,000 (US$1,240,000) to the family of a 65-year old Venetian carpenter and welder who died in 2015 from lung cancer due to routine asbestos exposures at his workplace. The ruling of the Venice Court of Appeals was hailed as “a historic decision” as it vastly increased the size of the first instance court’s €80,000 award and confirmed “the causal link between the disease and prolonged [occupational] exposure to asbestos fibers…” See: Operaio morto per esposizione all’amianto, Fincantieri condannata a pagare un milione e 150mila euro [Worker died from exposure to asbestos, Fincantieri ordered to pay one million and 150 thousand euros].

A technique developed by researchers at the Mayo Clinic centers in Minnesota and Arizona could “increase the detection rate of cancer DNA in the blood. This approach focuses on shuffled or swapped sections of DNA in mesothelioma cancer cells, called chromosomal rearrangements.” By facilitating earlier diagnoses of mesothelioma, the new technique could allow more time for treatment as well as a wider option of targeted therapies to choose from. Based on preliminary positive results, there are plans to expand this study to fine tune the testing method. See: Innovative Mayo Clinic test may improve mesothelioma detection rate in blood.

Developments reported on a Chinese news portal last week related that Dr Jiayan Liao, a Senior Lecturer at Sydney’s University of Technology, had been awarded the NSW Early Career Researcher of the Year (Physical Sciences) for her work on exploring how nanotechnology could be exploited to achieve early detection of mesothelioma cancer cells. Dr. Jiayan arrived in Australia from China in 2016 for her PhD studies which were completed in 2020. See: 悉尼华人学者获奖：探索纳米技术应用于早期癌症检测 [Sydney Chinese scholar wins award for exploring nanotechnology for early cancer detection].

Some might think that the holding last month (October 2024) of a meeting in Russia to progress peace and stability amongst nations belonging to the BRICS coalition might be deemed inappropriate given Russia’s continuing attacks on Ukraine. Nevertheless, representatives of 35 countries and 6 international organizations turned up in droves to the 16th annual BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia. The participants were addressed by President Putin who spoke of “mutual respect,” “open dialogue,” and “sovereign policies.” A mysterious article, which appeared and disappeared after a few hours, however, revealed that Russia’s motivation for the creation and support of BRICS was totally self-serving, citing its importance in expanding foreign markets for home-grown asbestos. [Read full article]

In recent weeks there has been a flurry of media coverage in newspapers and online about various aspects of the UK’s asbestos epidemic. Simultaneously, the Daily Mail launched a campaign – Asbestos: Britain's Hidden Killer – to establish a digital national asbestos database to prevent avoidable exposures as part of “a long-term strategic plan to eradicate asbestos risk from British infrastructure.” It’s pretty damning that more than a century after the asbestos hazard was first acknowledged by the British Government, so little has been done. One can but hope that the new 335 MPs, who constitute a majority of the House of Commons, will be more proactive on this deadly workplace hazard than their predecessors. [Read full article]

Proposals to ban asbestos are currently under consideration by the Mexican Congress with a discussion of the latest draft of the Asbestos Eradication Law scheduled for October 24, 2024 in the Legislative Palace. For years medical experts and civil society groups in Mexico have been calling for action on the asbestos hazard. Now that asbestos use has dwindled to 40 tonnes/year, these calls are being acted on. The loss of the Mexican asbestos market will have less of an impact than the loss of support from Mexican asbestos stakeholders who have vigorously participated in initiatives by industry lobbyists to influence national, regional and global asbestos dialogues. [Read full article]

As the 21st century dawned, China was both the world’s second biggest asbestos-consuming (382,315 tonnes/t) and producing (315,000t) country. By 2022, however, annual usage had fallen to 261,000t (a decrease of 32%) and production to 130,000t (a 59% fall). Figures for the last few years corroborated the continued decline. The reason for this U-turn was explained in a paper published last month which stated that China’s official policy on asbestos had undergone a major shift in 2013-14; intriguingly, the co-authors gave no more information and declined to provide footnotes to substantiate this statement. This being the case, the content of another September article was in direct contrast to observed trends. Want to know more…. [Read full article]

Just when you thought you had seen it all, you realize you were wrong. The lengths to which asbestos pushers will go to continue to ride the asbestos gravy train truly knows no bounds. This year, an asbestos trade association – Indonesia’s Fibre Cement Manufacturers’ Association (FICMA) – is trialing a new legal stratagem designed to: counteract a Supreme Court ruling unfavorable to the asbestos sector and cower campaigners brave enough to challenge the industry’s dominance. The audacity of this legal manoeuvre is breathtaking and, to my knowledge, totally unprecedented. The FICMA lawsuit, which targeted the consumers’ protection organization that had petitioned the Supreme Court to mandate Government action on the asbestos hazard, is claiming substantial damages from the NGO for loss of future profits. [Read full article]

Romana Blasotti Pavesi was a member of a club that no one wanted to join; she lost her husband Mario, daughter Maria Rosa, son Ottavio, sister Libera, nephew Enrico and cousin Anna to the asbestos cancer mesothelioma. Only Mario had worked with asbestos. All the others had been exposed to carcinogenic fibers in the built environment and in the air of their home town Casale Monferrato, the municipality at the center of Italy’s asbestos epidemic. In the face of her own losses and those of so many others, Romana dedicated her life to “the fight against asbestos.” The news of Romana’s death, at the age of 95 on September 11, 2024, sparked off intensive media coverage at home and a global outpouring of appreciation from fellow campaigners. [Read full article]

In a place long forgotten by the industrial enterprises which abused its people and polluted their land, a human-made miracle is taking place. From September 2 until September 20, 2024 an asbestos taskforce is providing free health screening for 450 individuals from the towns of Bom Jesus da Serra, Poçes, Caetanos and Planalto in the Brazilian State of Bahia. The bulk of the funding for this program was allocated from money impounded by the Labor Public Ministry from penalties paid by defendants which had been convicted of failing to provide mandatory occupational protections for their workers. [Read full article]

September 3, 2024 marked a turning point in the 30-year French battle for asbestos justice. A struggle to hold to account some of the people responsible for the country’s deadly asbestos epidemic collapsed when the Court of Cassation (Supreme Court) issued a ruling upholding a 2023 dismissal by the Paris Court of Appeals of criminal charges against executives of the country’s biggest asbestos group: Eternit. This was the latest in a series of defeats faced by asbestos victims and their legal representatives. More than a hundred years after Labor Inspector Denis Auribault reported excess mortality of asbestos workers in a textile factory in Condé-sur-Noireau, Calvados, French courts continue to fail the victims. Shame on them! [Read full article]

Until the 1970s, Canada was the world’s largest asbestos producer with mines in Quebec, British Columbia and Newfoundland. Although it was soon to be overtaken by output from mines in Soviet Russia, Canada remained the global asbestos cheerleader for decades to come. The price paid for Canada’s asbestos profits included lives shortened and families shattered. A national epidemic of asbestos-related diseases, discoveries of asbestos material contained within the national infrastructure and the perennial problem of what to do with huge mountains of asbestos mining waste continue long after the asbestos cash flow evaporated. [Read full article]

An insightful podcast broadcast on the BBC this summer raised the profile of the hazard posed by the presence of talc in make-up, cosmetics and personal hygiene products in the UK. The first 14-minute episode of “Talc Tales” – part of the How They Made Us Doubt Everything series – featured the case of British woman Hannah Fletcher, who was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma at the age of 41. Ms. Fletcher believed that she contracted the signature asbestos cancer as a result of exposures to toxic talcum powder. Spurred by this allegation, podcaster Phoebe Keane submitted the contents of her make-up bag for analysis. The results, which were delivered in the last of the five episodes, validated the ongoing hazard posed by the use of talc in cosmetics. [Read full article]

In a joint press release issued on August 20, 2024, representatives of asbestos victims and trade unionists from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Australia expressed concern over recent developments at Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF), an esteemed and venerable institution. According to the official court schedule, the verdict on the unconstitutionality of a state law allowing asbestos mining and exporting to continue despite a national ban was expected on August 14. Without a word of warning or explanation, the case disappeared from the court docket. An appeal was made to the STF to “take the right course of action and reschedule the delivery of this ruling for the earliest opportunity” (Clique aqui para ler a versão em português). [Read full article]

Even though it is winter now in Brazil, Christmas has come early for Eternit SA, the country’s sole remaining asbestos producer. The week beginning August 12, 2024 was a bumper one for the company with plaudits a-plenty and gifts raining down. As Eternit emerged from more than six years of a court-supervised judicial reorganization process, it was lauded as an inspiration to Brazilian corporations “as a valuable example of how companies in crisis can reinvent themselves and thrive.” Contemporaneous developments at the Supreme Court and Goiás State Legislature made it abundantly clear that Eternit, whose asbestos exports are worth US $4,750,000+ per month, still had plenty of influential friends left. [Read full article]

As global demand collapses and competitors crowd into remaining markets, the Russian asbestos behemoth is weakening. At the same time as Russia’s traditional customer base is disintegrating, competitors in Kazakhstan and China are developing new trade routes and streamlining logistics to capitalize on the woes of Russian suppliers. As demand continues to decline, market forces may succeed where the Russian government has failed. With dwindling sales, Russia’s once mighty asbestos industry may no longer be financially viable. Time will tell. [Read full article]

In the compilation of the July 25, 2024 asbestos news items for IBAS, I noticed a pattern in the content available. The developments reported on that day from Asia, Europe and North America illustrated the evolution of the global asbestos agenda from the early days of promotion to the end stage of eradication with a stop en route to address claims by the injured. With so much political uncertainty and social instability on the horizon, it is reassuring to see that progress is being made to end the global epidemic of asbestos-related diseases and provide justice for the injured. The sooner humankind transitions to asbestos-free technology, the safer the world will be. [Read full article]

If asbestos producers have their way, the global epidemic of asbestos-related deaths could well continue into the 25th century. And yet asbestos, in all its forms, is categorized as a Group 1 carcinogen (“carcinogenic to humans”) by the International Agency on Research for Cancer. According to data published on July 22, 2024 in The Lancet, Asia bears the highest disease burden of lung cancer, with 63.1% of newly diagnosed lung cancers and 62.9% of lung cancer deaths occurring in the region…” It is no coincidence that the region with “the highest disease burden of lung cancer” is also the region with the highest consumption of asbestos. [Read full article]

At an art exhibition held in Dundee, Scotland on May 9, 2024 by the Scottish asbestos charity Asbestos Action, ten original portraits of asbestos victims by artist Craig Semple were displayed. The objective of the event was to show that people are “much more than their diagnoses.” Commenting on the day, the Charity’s General Manager Dianne Foster said: “Every single person who is diagnosed with an asbestos-related condition has a life, has a family, has friends, and it is a very unfair situation that people have been exposed to asbestos.” Positive feedback was received from many of the hundred or so people who attended the showing. [Read full article]

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Demonstration in Woluwe Park, Brussels, 2006

Under cloudy skies, members of Belgian and French Asbestos Victims' Associations from Dunkirk and Bourgogne marched side-by-side in the third annual demonstration organized by ABEVA, the Belgian Association of Asbestos Victims. Erik Jonckheere, ABEVA's Co-chairman, condemned the government which still refuses to recognize the plight of the asbestos injured.

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